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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · race · wind · chip · game · can · land · last

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — to be able to
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — a country
  6. race — the arms race
  7. last — to go on
  8. degree — an amount
  9. race — humankind
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chip — for betting
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. last — final
  17. race — a contest
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chip — to eat
  20. last — finally
  21. wind — moving air
  22. land — to come down
  23. degree — temperature
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com